world_of_shadowfellfandomcom-20200214-history
Alberto Bianchi
Alberto Bianchi is an NPC in the Mental campaign. He was introduced in Season 2 where he became an antagonist for that season, and in Season 3 became a major character, joining the group in Wholesale Slaughter (S03E01). Despite being a merciless, sinister, cunning hunter, Alberto is also a honorable, charming and somewhat noble. He is a vampire hailing from Renaissance-era Italy. He is considered by many to be the most dangerous of the Bianchi Brothers. Personality Alberto is an ancient, cunnning and ruthless vampire. A consumate hunter, he is resourceful, intelligent and brutally efficient. Charming despite his savage nature, Alberto is well-connected and has many contacts and "friends" throughout the world and the underworld and is just as adept at navigating a social situation as he is at snapping human necks. The name of the game for Alberto is survival. Living to see tomorrow is the most important thing to the vampire, and over six centuries, he has become very, very good at surviving. Alberto is very resourceful and always follows the current trends to seem like a "young, modern gentleman". Using his knowledge of the modern human psyche, as well as sublte charming tricks Alberto has picked up over the centuries (such as his trademark British accent), Alberto is very skilled at manipulating others and predicting their reactions. This has played into helping Alberto become the hunter that he is; women find it difficult to resist his allure. This is almost always a fatal mistake. Alberto positively oozes charisma and he was a bit of a lady-killer before he became a literal one. He always used his natural charm and wit to get through life. Cultured and up to date with the cutting edge of popular culture, Alberto enjoys a wide variety of music, and he was always the only one of his brothers to ever really adapt to new technology. This in part played into his method of survival; keep up to date, lay low, don't draw attention to yourself. This always irked his brother Dante, who preferred more traditional and "refined" forms of recreation and entertainment. Alberto has a way with words and he is often able to get others to cooperate with him without resorting to compulsion. He maintains a cool demeanor and his vast intellect and cunning is sometimes visible in his cat-like eyes. However, this veneer can drop when Alberto is moved to anger. In a state of rage, Alberto is at his most dangerous. He is not above lying, terrorizing and doing whatever he can to make his prey suffer. His revenge plots are often his most cruel and sadistic, as he takes a sort of joy is torturing those who have wronged him. He will relentlessly pursue the target, unwilling to parlay or give mercy to those he has chosen. He will not stop the hunt until either he or his prey are dead. He has a knack for getting into his opponent's head through friends and loved ones, often attacking, injuring or killing them in order to make the prey lash out without thinking or make them seize in fear. Alberto loves literature and is a voracious reader, tearing through books almost as fast as he tore through prey. Having read literally thousands of books from dozens of genres, Alberto is well-read and often makes literary references, such as referring to his allies by somewhat detrimental or offensive nicknames (such as referring to Clive as a sort of "Psychic Fagin" who gathers vampires instead of orphans). His favorite books are British literature between the 1830's through the 1950's, especially books from the classic Victorian era. Wuthering Heights is his favorite book: the themes of sex, violence and betrayal were scandalous in its time, and he used to love the looks he got when he told people it was his favorite book. While that shock value has seemed to have worn off (he's considered cultured now for liking it, which is still a win), he still loves the book for what it is. He also enjoys Milton's Paradise Lost, for he identifies with Lucifer. He shares the outlook that it is "better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven". While Dante was an engine of destruction and Leon had sworn off human blood, Alberto went the middle road has perfected the art of the subtle hunt. While he serves his bloodlust, Alberto has trained his mind and body to last several days between feedings if he must. He is a very theatrical hunter who prefers the slow kill. Employing elaborate plans, he makes his prey suffer, sometimes for years, before he kills them. He enjoys large, intricate set-ups and he specializes in breaking their spirit with despair. A consumate predator, Alberto is well aware that power lies in numbers, so when his foes have the advantage in numbers, Alberto is not above compelling a group of a half-dozen humans to assist him in showy confrontations. His preferred method for dealing with groups, however, is to draw out individual members of the group and dispose of them one by one. This method has an added effect of driving the target mad or to despair, a common side effect of watching their allies get picked off. Alberto has always believed in the psychological effects of fear, and that breaking the mind is even more important than breaking the body. Beside, fear and adrenaline make blood much sweeter. He rarely leaves anything to chance and it is rare that anything catches him by surprise. Alberto is a vicious fighter, rarely drawing out a kill. He lets his prey linger only long enough to give him information. Otherwise, he ends it quick: snapping the neck or literally tearing their hearts from their bodies. Trained in various hand-to-hand fighting techniques from around Europe, India and Asia, Alberto is a trained, dangerous warrior. He has involved himself in several wars throughout the centuries, such as the American Civil War and both World Wars. Coming from the late middle ages, Alberto is a man of honor. He believes in keeping promises, avenging the dead, etcetera but this seems to only apply to those he respects. He also has a tendency to lash out and overreact; for example, when he made the deal with Erica in the Victorian Era (see The Doctor is In) Alberto never intended to have her kill anybody; in fact he was just going to use them to steal something valuable. It was Leon's overreaction to their deal, and his older brother's insistence that Alberto had tricked her, that caused Alberto to fight back and give Leon a reason to suspect him. Alberto does not get close to people. Friends and loved ones slow you down, they make you vulnerable and overall hinder your chances at survival. He was, of course, close to Dante is centuries past but they drifted apart when Alberto's connection to his oldest brother got his first wife Hilda killed, and it nearly cost Alberto his life, too. Since then, he has never had any real friends. Lucille, his second wife, was the closest he got in centuries but she was the exception rather than the rule. As a general rule of thumb, Alberto has casual, professional relationships or else he engages in casual, meaningless interactions either because he's bored or hungry. Recently, however, Alberto has found the group of friends surrounding Erica to be good company and he's slowly come to consider them all his friends, to some level. While he once swore to destroy Erica and everything/everyone she held dear, Erica and Dave are now his only close friends and he greatly plays down how important they are to him. Alberto is dangerous. One of the oldest and most cruel vampires alive today, he was described as Leon as a "plague upon humanity". But as time has passed and Alberto has become increasingly involved with Erica's life and her fights to save the world, he is showing more and more just how brave, loyal and surprisingly decent he can be. History ''Early Life'' Alberto Bianchi was born in 1482 to a minor noble family in Florence, Italy, the youngest of three sons. Alberto, being the youngest, had few responsibilities and was free to pursue many hobbies and leisure activities, his favorite being poetry. Dante taught he and Leon much about honest and virtue, but Alberto paid his lessons little attention. He was more focused on his freedom. A sensitive young man, Alberto loved art and he loved poetry. He even studied poetry as a boy and wrote quite a lot of it. Alberto was taught much in the ways of social etiquette and of his three brothers was always a natural at it. He was certainly charming and his fiancee was the envy of every young, available woman in Florence. During the Italian War of 1494, Alberto was too young to enlist in the militia and so continued to stay at home and lounge about, writing poetry. He would sometimes watch the soldiers do their drills in the streets, and he often went for walks in the hills. During the Second Italian War in 1499, Dante was reported as having died in battle in Hungary and Alberto mourned his brother along with everybody else. However, when Dante came home in 1500, Alberto was the only one not blinded by their joy at seeing him, and he was clever enough to notice something was amiss. Dante had changed somehow. When people started showing up dead in the streets, Alberto secretly suspected Dante could be to blame, but he banished the thoughts. Dante was his brother, after all. Before long, Dante was found out and chased out of town and Alberto thought it was the last he'd hear of his oldest brother. He was wrong; Dante came back. When he did, he turned both Alberto and Leon into vampires, like him, to punish Leon for exposing him. Starving and crazed by the transition, Albeirto attacked his mother, drinking every last drop of her blood in order to complete the transformation. ''Rise of the Monster'' While Alberto felt the guilt of killing his mother, he quickly learned to turn those emotions off. Instead, he focused on embracing his inner monster and left Florence with Dante to feed and raise hell. They disguised themselves as monks, which often allowed them to be invited into homes for the night, when they would slaughter entire families, draining them all of blood. While Dante was a blood-guzzling engine of slaughter, Alberto preferred more "cultured" kills. He did not follow Dante's example and as such, was never the reason they were chased out of towns. In 1651, Alberto was spotted by a vampire hunter who was friends with Leon. The hunter followed him back to their lair, where he launched an attack on he and Dante at dawn. They managed to kill the hunter and fled East, into what would later become Russia. There, Alberto and Dante lived well for many years. ''The Legion of the Damned'' While in Russia, the two vampires went from village to village, draining or turning the inhabitants until they had raised a veritable nation of vampires themselves that Dante macabrely called "The Legion of the Damned". One of these vampires, a woman named Hilda, was particularly ruthless. Alberto admires that and the two began a violent, passionate and bloody courtship that lasted nearly one hundred years. However, in 1734, Leon arrived with a small army of vampire hunters on a crusade to destroy the Legion of the Damned. Alberto led many battles against the hunters and their Lycan allies, and many on both sides were brutally killed. During a particularly brutal battle in the far north, Dante abandoned him, allowing Viktor VanHelsing to kill Hilda and drove a stake into Alberto's stomach, knocking him into a frozen river. Alberto bitterly left Russia in early 1738, abandoning both Dante and the legion to Leon and his hunters. ''The Time of Wandering'' Alberto spent the next century wandering the continent, seducing and slaughtering women while being careful not to be on Leon's radar. In 1760, Dante payed Alberto a visit during his stay in Amsterdam and gifted him a daylight ring, allowing Alberto to venture into the sunlight. In 1777, Alberto met Iksander, a large English Bulldog, in the streets of Amsterdam. The dog was unusually intelligent and refused to leave him alone. Alberto recognized something supernatural in the creature and allowed him to stay at his house in town. He would later discover that Iksander was, in fact, not a normal dog but a Hound Archon that has chosen him, of all creatures, to protect. He left Iksander in Amsterdam when he left, but he would return every so often to pay the archon a visit. In the late 1820s, Alberto heard that Leon had settled in London, England (of all places) and he, too moved there to keep an eye on him. A large part of him was still bitter about Russia, and he blamed Leon for Hilda's death. In 1834, Alberto began a torrid affair with one of Leon's servants, Lucielle, who he had known for some time. She would spy on Leon and feed Alberto the information. Alberto eventually found that he really did love Lucielle and the two married in secret in 1840. In 1862, Alberto traveled to the United States, where he fought in the American Civil War (as a way to feast on the fallen soldiers). He compelled his way into becoming an officer and he led several failed and bloody battles, of which he profited greatly. Alberto had heard that Dante was fighting as a foot soldier in the war, and that Leon was also involved, but he made the decision to keep clear of them both. This worked well, until the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, when he was discovered by Leon. Their battle resulted in burning a bar to the ground. In the ensuing inferno, Alberto purposely put innocents in harm's way of the flames and debris, forcing Leon to save them and allowing Alberto to properly escape. Alberto knew when to call it a day and stop when he was ahead, and he dropped out of the war, instead traveling to New York City until the war ended, and presumably for a short time after. ''Erica'' Sometime in 1888, Alberto traveled to London, England, where he committed a series of brutal murders to get Leon's attention. This plan was cut short, however, when he met a "pretty little thing" that would irrevocably chanhge his life forever. Her name was Erica Bridges. The young psychic proved tenacious and much more clever than he would have given her credit for. While a "baby psychic", Erica proved more than able to keep up with him and match his wits. It seemed that no matter what Alberto did, no matter what brilliant scheme Alberto concocted to kill her, no matter what he did to her friends and no matter how often they clashed, Erica refused to give up or die. Her resilience caused Lucielle to be moved to America, which spurred on Alberto's hatred of the young psychic. After a massive, final confrontation in the streets of London during the "end of the world", Alberto was defeated yet again by Erica and her allies (and lost his daylight ring to boot). In the wake of the battle, Alberto bitterly made her a promise at the foot of her bed in the night, that he would haunt her, torment her and make her life a living hell, in addition to the lives of everybody she ever loved. He would lurk in the shadows; every bad thing, he'd be there. Every good thing, he would ruin. And only when she'd lost everything would he let her die. He truly, utterly hated her with every part of his soul. She disappeared a short time later. He laid low for the remainder of the century, despite Leon's desperate attempts to track him down. Erica's disappearance intrigued Alberto and after some time, he discovered she had been hurtled forward in time, to the year 2012--the year she had come from. After a brief torture of the witch who sent them there, Alberto also found out where they would emerge: North Salem, New York. Alberto found the irony delicious and so made a vow to bide his time until she returned. ''The 20th Century'' At an unknown time, Alberto managed to procure another daylight ring. He also discovered Father Henesey was a Lich during this time, although he claimed to not have any knowledge of his whereabouts. He is known to have participated in both World Wars to some degree. He has made mention of fighting in Korea, though he did mention that Vietnam was "depressing, even for me". It is know that he spent some time following Erica's family line, waiting until it came to her, primarily watching the Bridges family. He failed to observe Jonathan Bridges during his time at the Hoffman Institute, however, so he was unaware that Clive was Erica's biological father. In 2002, Alberto arrived in North Salem, New York with the intention of killing Erica as a child, preventing her from becoming a thorn in his side later. When he met the 8-year old child, who was simply playing with her toy truck, he found himself unable to go through with it. He vowed he would do it the next year. And the next. And the next. In 2007, he realized he'd never be able to do it, not until she was older and he left her alone. ''Recent History'' Sometime around 2009, Alberto first heard rumors about a "new darkness". In 2011, during his stay in Los Angeles, he received an voicemail from Dante that he was a part of "something glorious" and that Alberto should join him. Knowing intuitively that Dante saying glorious was wrong, he stayed far away from his older brother. He continued laying low as he saw Clive's rise to power all around him. In January of 2012, he heard that Leon was slain by Dante. He did not weep but he did have a glass of scotch in his memory. Sometime in the summer of 2012, Alberto found an envelope on his bedside table in a hotel with Erica's name on it. Intrigued, he opened it and was disappointed to find only a list of names. He tossed it in his glove box later, to give her when he saw her. In July of 2012, Alberto was in Los Angeles when some supernatural event rocked the west coast. He was witness to the horror and tragedy that the event had. He discovered that a gate to Hell had opened and he curtly packed his bag and drove east, where he set up shop in New York City. He continued to watch Clive's rise to power, and he was accosted by other vampires and Hoffman agents several times. Living a life on the run was not a desirable prospect to the vampire, who began to subtly work against Clive's plans. Over and over again, Alberto continued hearing something intriguing: the name Erica Bridges. That girl, the subject of his hate for so long, was apparently pretty important to the Lich. He devised a plan so stupid it had to work: he knew where she was going to be in October of 2012 and he was beginning to think she would be his ticket to stopping Clive in his tracks. So, he laid low, waiting for Erica to return. He would protect her, help her kill Clive...and then he'd kill her. When he comandeered that old truck that October night to "pick her up", he had little idea that in the process of protecting the spunky young psychic whom he had hated for so long, not only would his entire world be turned upside-down, but his own heart would change forever. Notable Accomplishments *Fought in the Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War. *[Various "Mental" accomplishments] *Fought in the Battle of North Salem. *Began the Hunt for Abbaddon *Witnessed a Shining Child Notable Kills *Father Roland Henesy time--snapped neck (Between a Vampire and a Hard Place) *Dr. Hiram Jones--murdered (London Calling) *Jakob Dermont--snapped neck (Wholesale Slaughter) *Katherine--decapitation (Attack the Gas Station) *Barry Finn--tore out his heart time Relationships with Others Alberto's relationship with Erica Bridges is a strange one. In the Victorian era, he went from a kill to a tenuous ally, back to a merciless hunter who would stop at nothing to tear her throat out and then back to ally in the present day. His true intentions were vague for a long time; while he teased her and generally acted like an ass toward her, he was also very protective of her, utterly destroying anything that threatened her (such as his demonstration to Papa Hero in Bad Voodoo). He eventually realized that he loved her despite everything that had happened between them: 124 years of constant hate had turned to love. He rarely acted on his nice instincts, instead doing what he had to do in order to protect her. As time wore on, though, he started playing dirty and was responsible for Sam being mind-wiped and put into hiding so he could have time alone with Erica. He went on to throw philosophy about opposites attracting, buying her gifts and continuing to protect her and they grew very close. As time went on, his sense of honor prevailed and kept him from pursuing anything physical without her first leaving Sam. This cost him her heart, however and things went back to normal. He vowed to always protect her and keep her safe, doing whatever he had to from the shadows to make sure she stayed alive. During the Final Battle, his actions during the final confrontation between Erica and Clive (distracting Barry so Sam could escape) resulted in Sam--Erica's love--being killed. Alberto was horrified when he discovered Sam's death, and he blames himself for the tragedy. He feels like he tore Erica's world away from her and has now gone on his quest to hunt Abbaddon in order to make up for what he did. He really does love her, and this changed him for a time. He stopped hunting for her, opting instead to drink only blood bags and often risked his life to keep her safe, something that is usually against his better judgement. Maybe he was a little hard on her, but he knows that he has to be if she's going to take anything he says seriously. While he initially hoped slaying Abbaddon would make him worthy of Erica, he knows she's married Elijah and despite his hatred of "her lapdog", the gentleman in him respects their bond and a part of him knows that her heart is Elijah's. He has since begun to hunt again and although he will always love Erica, he feels that they can never be, and he is depressed and lost, his only obsession now to find Abbaddon. Charlotte Palmer, known better simply as "Charli", is a young werewolf from nothern England and as of now, his only shot at finding Abbaddon. Early research suggested that Abbaddon was connected to another creature known as "Bentham", who he discovered was involved with the young lycanthrope in question. The vampire and werewolf begrudingly agreed to work with each other to find the Inevitables, and their partnership has proved fruitful. She is spunky, confident, cunning and witty; she's more than able to keep up with him. He appreciates that he doesn't have to babysit her and he secretly enjoys their little verbal spats. He has referred to her as his "partner" and over their time together, she has become a friend to him. Though he would never admit it, he is beginning to feel that he has a sort of second home among Charli and her people, and for the first time since leaving Erica's company, Alberto does not feel lonely or quite so lost. Elijah Porter, who he calls "Rover" or "Spot", is Erica's werewolf husband. Elijah's a nice guy, sure, but he's always been Erica's companion whom he respected the least. While his initial thoughts on Elijah were that he was too soft and incapable of really doing what needed to be done to keep Erica safe, his feelings have changed over recent days, and not for the better. He sees Elijah as a rake and a knave; a scoundrel who is taking advantage of a grieving widow and using her for money and for sex. He hates Elijah more than anybody else right now, save for Abbaddon, and he would be more than willing to tear the bloody dog's head off if it wouldn't mean losing Erica forever. Dave Dixon, the redneck daredevil and self-proclaimed "supernatural badass", is Alberto's best friend outside of Erica. While Alberto sees Dave as a little simple and more than a little ignorant of the world, he thinks Dave is a riot and genuinely respects the man's simple, if warped, view of the world. He admires Dave's earnestness and ability to enjoy the simple pleasures in life like drinking beer, talking with friends, sleeping with strange women, enjoying time in nature and getting an adrenaline rush from killing a monster much bigger than he is. Dave honestly reminds Alberto of an ancient, viking hero from the dim days of the dark past and he always enjoys Dave's company. Dave's skill in a fight is legend and Dave never ceases to amaze and/or horrify Alberto with his bravery and unconventional fighting style. Alberto downplays how important Dave is to him, but in truth he trusts and truly cares about Dave, who is his first real friend in nearly half a millenium. Sam Hudson, who Alberto calls "the Cowboy", is Erica's former fiancee and the father of her son. He was a thorn in Alberto's side for quite a long time. He disregarded Sam as a dim-witted thug with a sad, sappy little crush on Erica when first they met, and he never took Sam seriously as a threat. However, Sam surprised the vampire during Between a Vampire and a Hard Place, when he allowed Alberto to begin feeding on him so he could get close enough to inject him with a syringe filled with artificial sunlight. The concoction burned and seared Alberto from the inside out, nearly killing him. From then on, Sam had earned Alberto's begrudging respect. He found Sam tenacious and much more clever than his "neanderthal-like exterior" would imply, and he eventually learned to never count Sam out, and that underestimating the "little guy" could get a vampire killed (which is exactly how Dante died, incidentally). While he never much liked Sam, he did respect him and he honored the bond he and Erica shared. He feels responsible for Sam's death, and it is for that reason that Alberto wants Abbaddon dead. Eddie "Rowan" Ford is the most recent protegee of Leon's and the victim of Dante's campaign of horror from the 1950's. Rowan is much like Leon, which worried Alberto, who doesn't want another Leon on his hands. Rowan seems more practical than Leon, though, and is willing to take a life if need be. Rowan has a lot of Leon's habits, like "talking" about their problems and trying to "help" other vampires live their hippie-baby lifestyle of blood bags and forest critters. He respects Rowan's ability to survive and willingness to go to great lengths to protect Erica, but he does not approve of his continuing Leon's "fool errand". He believes doing so will get Rowan killed, and in this day and age, it'll be sooner rather than later. Clive Talbot was a Lich that nearly ended reality as we know it. Alberto has never really been afraid of anything; he's always known that one way or another, he'll manage to survive and live to fight another day. That being said, he was terrified of Clive, terrified enough that he went to Erica Bridges for help destroying him. Knowing Clive's immense power, Alberto was aware that he couldn't stop Clive, and that was the scariest realization he has ever had. He only met Clive the once, during the Final Battle, but just the sight of him filled Alberto's stomach with unease as waves of terror shot through the vampire's body and he wondered briefly if that was what humans felt when they saw a vampire. Alberto dislikes Noah Morris, who he refers to as "Clive, jr" seeing as he is Clive's clone, and sees him as whiny, inept, stupid and annoying. He thinks it's dangerous letting Noah live, seeing what happened to Clive, but is staying his executioner's hand for Erica's sake. Troy Whitman, who he calls "the Quarterback", is a fierce, proud warrior with a horrifying amount of skill with a blade. Troy is a Shadow Slayer and as a part of that order, Troy is in a unique position to be able to combat nearly any threat and walk away unscathed. Alberto respects Troy's almost legendary ability to use a sword and he counts Troy's support on their side as a sure step toward victory. While he doesn't see Troy as the brightest bulb in the box, he respects his strength and level-head in a crisis. Of all of Erica's friends, Troy is the only one he would think twice about taking on. ''Nicknames'' Alberto has a habit of referring to others by nicknames, often derogatory or offensive ones. Below is a list of the nicknames he has used to refer to his allies or enemies at various times in the Mental campaign: *'Erica Porter:' Amazon, Professor X, Madame Cleo, Dead Zone, Psychic Barbie, Phoenix, Catherine, Jane Eyre *'Charlotte "Charli" Palmer:' Puppy, Miss Cheney, Barbie *'Elijah Porter:' Lon Cheney, The Dog, Rover, Spot, Skinny, The Nose *'Sam Hudson:' The Cowboy, Shooter McGee, Pistol Pete, John Wayne *'Dave Dixon:' Dick, Amigo, Runner, Baywatch *'Eddie "Rown" Ford:' Little Leon, Leon Jr, Edward, Mr. Cullen, Hair, Yoda *'Clive' Talbot: The Lich, Darth Talbot *'Troy Whitman:' Quarterback, Shaft *'Holly Corrigan:' Sabrina, Hermione, 90210 *'Jonathan Bridges:' Pops, Daddy-O, Johnny, The Human Antennae, Loudspeaker *'Noah Morris:' Clive Jr, Pouty, Anakin, Spielberg *'Leon Bianchi:' "Dear Brother", Ghandhi, Mr. King *'Dr. Hiram Jones:' Gandalf, Wolverine *'Jakob Durmont:' Jabba Powers and Abilities Alberto is a vampire and more than six centuries old, granting him not only many supernatural talents but also a wide array of various mundane training he's acquired over his more than half-millenium on the earth. '--Arcane Lore:' Being as old as he is, Alberto knows quite a bit about various supernatural entities and artifacts. '--Archaic Weapons:' Alberto is trained in a wide-array of medieval and archaic weaponry, such as swords, axes and archery weapons. He is very skilled with these weapons, as he has been practicing several of them since childhood. '--Finance:' Alberto is an expert financial advisor, able to play the stock market, make positive investments and otherwise work with money. '--Firearms:' Having served in several wars through history, Alberto is an expert marksman. Though not quite the shot that Sam was, Alberto is still dangerous with a firearm, especially pistols. '--Historian:' Alberto is very learned in world history, considering he was around for much of it. '--Horsemanship:' As a former Italian nobleman and a calvaryman in several wars of antiquity, Alberto is an excellent horseman. '--Larceny:' As a six-hundred year old vampire, Alberto knows how to pick a lock and he is n stranger to picking a pocket or breaking & entering. '--Linguist:' Alberto is fluent in English, French, Italian, Latin, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, German, Russian and Dutch. '--Martial Arts:' Alberto is a highly trained combatant, claiming mastery of several Indian, Chinese, Middle-Eastern and Russian martial arts. '--Stealth:' Alberto is skilled at moving unseen and unheard, and he is especially talented at shadowing a target and vanishing into a crowd. '--Tactics:' Having served in high-ranking military positions many times in his life, Alberto is a skilled tactician and strategist. '--Teaching:' Alberto is a trained university professor in five different subjects: English/Literature; Mathematics; Theater and Social Studies. '--Vampire:' As a vampire, Alberto is immortal and cannot die through natural means. He is highly resistant to physical damage, mental attack and certain types of magic. : '--Compulsion:' By making eye contact and focusing his will onto a human, Alberto is able to force humans to do whatever he commands, even things that would bring themselves harm. He can do this multiple times per day and is very, very skilled at using this ability. : '--Darkvision:' A vampire's eyes are able to see perfectly in conditions of absolute darkness, out to ninety feet away. This vision is in black and white, but it's better than nothing. : '--Enhanced Senses:' Alberto's senses are heightened, allowing him keener eyesight, hearing and smell than a normal human. : '--Enhanced Speed:' As a vampire, Alberto can move very quickly, much more so than an average human. In bursts, he can move faster than the human eye can pick up. : '--Enhanced Strength:' Alberto is much stronger than his height and build would suggest, able to move a small car with one hand with little difficulty. He is more than strong enough to lift a grown man above his head and throw him. : '--Regeneration:' Alberto possesses an accelerated healing factor, allowing him to not only sustain more injuries than any human, but he heals much, much quicker than a human; he can recover from horrible injuries in minutes that a normal human would take weeks or months to heal. Paraphernelia While Alberto usually relies on his natural talents and abilities, he does carry around some unique equipment to aid him. '--Beretta 92F:' Alberto always carries this handgun on his person, loaded with silver bullets. '--Daylight Ring:' Alberto utilizes this ring to be able to walk in the daylight and remain unhindered by its effects. '--Silver Knife:' Alberto also carries this silver-bladed weapon in a hidden sheath at all times. Weaknesses For all his power, Alberto certainly has several flaws and weaknesses that could mean his end. '--Bloodlust:' Alberto is dependent on drinking human blood in order to survive. Ingesting blood heals him and fuels the unholy magic that allows him to exist. Without it, he would weaken and eventually dessicate, though he would not necessarily die. '--Fire:' As a vampire, Alberto is vulnerable to fire, as it can be used to immolate and destroy him. '--Inviolate Sanctuary:' Alberto cannot enter a private residence without being granted permission by an owner or rightful tenant. '--Pride:' Alberto is very, very proud and arrogant. He stubbornly refuses to ask for help or admit he's wrong. '--Silver:' Direct contact is not harmful, nor is silver fatal to a vampire. It can, however, be used to send him into indefinite topor if it pierces his heart. This stasis lasts until the silver is removed. '--Sunlight:' Without his Daylight Ring, Alberto is highly susceptible to sunlight. Just seeing it through windows is enough to blind him and even in UV-protected windows, it still burns and causes his skin to itch. Unshielded contact with the sun is agonizing and will result in his death and immolation within thirty seconds. '--Temper:' While he tries to be patient, Alberto has been known to lose his temper, often to violent or explosive ends. This often ends with him doing or saying something he regrets, such as abandoning the group or insulting one of the few people he cares about. '--Vervain:' This rare herb can be used to burn his skin, or turned into paste or put into water, which acts like corrosive acid. Ingestion also protects against his compulsion. '--Wood:' While touching wood itself it not harmful to him, if it is used to pierce his heart in any way--be it a stake, broom handle or wooden bullets--it will kill him immedately and permanently. Notes --Alberto's Play-by actor is James McAvoy. --Alberto is named after "Alberto Falcone" from the graphic novels Batman: The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. The character in those comics was the youngest son of an Italian crime family who turned out to be the most cunning and evil member of his family, going on a year-long murder spree as the villain "Holiday". --Alberto's character is based off of a combination of the aforementioned Alberto Falcone, as well as "Damon Salvatore" from The Vampire Diaries and "Sawyer" from Lost. --Alberto's initial conversation with Erica outside the pub in Night Terrors is based off of the introductory scene from X-Men: First Class that introduced Charles Xavier. Trivia --Alberto's favorite color is black. --His favorite book is Wuthering Heights, and he always keeps a first edition copy in his backpack. --Possesses eleven Doctorates. --Likes various genres of music, but despises grunge and metal. --Is responsible for the death of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain. --Has never done any narcotic drug. --Is the vampire responsible for turning Seth from the Requiem campaign. --Witnessed both Abraham Lincoln and JFK's assasinations. --Attended Woodstock and fed off of both Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and suspects he might be partially responsible for both of their deaths. --Favorite film is Casablanca. Category:Vampire Category:Villains Category:Erica's Army Category:Mental Campaign Category:Bianchi Bloodline Category:Dante's Sires Category:Charismatic Hero Category:Martial Artist (Class) Category:Soldier (Class) Category:Veteran of War Category:Dogs of War Campaign Category:Neutral Characters Category:Mental Season 2 Category:Mental Season 3 Category:Mental Season 4 Category:Shadowcrest Season 2 Category:Shadowcrest Academy Category:Shadowcrest Campaign Category:Native of the Material Plane Category:Mental Category:Shadowcrest Category:Characters